The administrative process by which tribal nations obtain trust status for land to conduct off-reservation gaming or other activities has been criticized by some as cumbersome, lengthy, and overly burdensome.1 With recently implemented amendments...
The Practical Real Estate Lawyer Articles
PROVING THE VALUE OF UNIQUE OR SCARCE REAL PROPERTY ASSETS
This article will focus on how lawyers and appraisers can work together to tackle difficult appraisal problems that don’t lend themselves easily to a simple comparable sales approach or where such an approach requires larger adjustments than are...
HIGHEST AND BEST USE IN LAND VALUATION CASES
It is axiomatic that “you can’t get the value right if you get the highest and best use wrong.”1 There may be no more fundamental concept in the valuation of property under the Fifth Amendment’s just compensation clause than that fair market value...
BEHIND THE WALLS OF A DIGITAL PALACE: UNDERSTANDING, BUYING, OPERATING, AND FINANCING DATA CENTERS
There are people who believe that zombies will take over the world one day. Today, however, digital information rules the world. In the United States and many other industrialized nations, almost all non-verbal communications (as well as notes and...
THE LAWYER’S MIND: NEGOTIATION AND PERSUASION
“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” Dwight D. Eisenhower Although representation in transactional work differs from being counsel in a claim or litigation, my experience as an advocate, mediator, and arbitrator has enabled me to...
2024 NATIONAL EMINENT DOMAIN UPDATE
PUBLIC USE Detailed Factual Findings on Public Benefit are Required In re Gen. Mun. Auth. of City of Nanticoke involved a private benefit challenge to a proposed taking allegedly for construction of affordable elderly housing.1 In consolidated...
STEWARDING AMERICA’S FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS
“This land is your land, this land is my land.This land was made for you and me.”—Woody Guthrie INTRODUCTION The iconic Woody Guthrie Song “This Land Is Your Land” is a song celebrating the great diversity of landscapes which define the geography...
“REPLY ALL” REGRETS: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
AN OVERVIEW OF THE ISSUES Electronic communications envelop us.1 From mobile phones and smart watches to email, texts, instant messages, social media, and video conferencing, we’re spending more hours engaging in remote communications through...
REAL ESTATE JOINT VENTURES: SHARING PURSUIT COSTS
In any joint venture formed to acquire real estate, one point that should be addressed early in the process is whether, the extent to which, and how the parties intend to share costs incurred by each party individually in furtherance of the venture...